How To Host Website On Tomcat Server?

Apache Tomcat is a cross-platform web server that is implemented as HTTP web server and a servlet container by the Apache Software Foundation. It supports several Java EE specifications namely Java Servlet, JavaServer Pages (JSP) and WebSocket and being a pure Java HTTP web server environment to host Java code.

Tomcat Versions

The latest major version as of 2024 is Tomcat 10. x. Nevertheless, a lot of applications are still running Tomcat 9. x primarily because the current version Jakarta EE 8 compatible with it. It is important to always ensure that you go through the requirements needed in your application before deciding on which version you want to use.

Detailed Installation Process

 

Prerequisites

- Java Development Kit (JDK): Tomcat 10.x requires Java 8 or later. Install the appropriate JDK for your system.

- Verify Java installation:

  ```

  java -version

  javac -version

  ```

 

Downloading Tomcat

- Visit https://tomcat.apache.org/

- Choose the appropriate version (e.g., Tomcat 10.x)

- Select the core distribution for your operating system (e.g., Windows 64-bit ZIP)

 

Installation Steps

- Windows:

  1. Extract the ZIP file to a directory (e.g., C:\Program Files\Apache Tomcat)

  2. Set environment variables:

     - CATALINA_HOME: Path to Tomcat installation directory

     - JAVA_HOME: Path to JDK installation

     - Add %CATALINA_HOME%\bin to the PATH variable

 

- Linux:

1. Extract the following tar.gz file: 'tar xzvf apache-tomcat-x.x.x.tar.gz'

  2. Go to the appropriate location:'sudo mv apache-tomcat-x.x.x /opt/tomcat'

  3. Set environment variables in ~/.bashrc or /etc/environment:

     ```

     export CATALINA_HOME=/opt/tomcat

     export JAVA_HOME=/path/to/jdk

     export PATH=$PATH:$CATALINA_HOME/bin

     ```

 

Detailed Configuration

 

server.xml Configuration

Located in $CATALINA_HOME/conf/server.xml, this file is the main configuration file for Tomcat.

 

Key elements to configure:

- : Define HTTP/HTTPS connectors

  ```xml

  

             connectionTimeout="20000"

             redirectPort="8443" />

  ```

- : Configure the processing pipeline for requests

- : Define virtual hosts

  ```xml

  

        unpackWARs="true" autoDeploy="true">

    

           prefix="example_access_log" suffix=".txt"

           pattern="%h %l %u %t "%r" %s %b" />

  

  ```

 

tomcat-users.xml Configuration

This file ($CATALINA_HOME/conf/tomcat-users.xml) defines users, passwords, and roles for Tomcat's built-in authentication.

 

Example configuration:

```xml

  

  

  

```

 

web.xml Configuration

Located in $CATALINA_HOME/conf/web.xml, this file sets default configurations for all web applications.

 

Key configurations:

- Default servlet settings

- JSP servlet settings

- MIME type mappings

- Welcome file list

 

Preparing Your Website for Deployment

 

Static Website

- Create a directory in $CATALINA_HOME/webapps (for example, mysite).

- Move all static files (HTML, CSS, JS, pictures) to this directory.

- Structure:

  ```

  webapps/

    mysite/

      index.html

      css/

      js/

      images/

  ```

 

Dynamic Java Web Application

- Create a WAR file:

  1. Structure your application:

     ```

     MyWebApp/

       META-INF/

         MANIFEST.MF

       WEB-INF/

         web.xml

         classes/

         lib/

       index.jsp

       other JSP files...

     ```

Use Maven or Gradle to build the WAR file, or manually create it:

     ```

     jar -cvf MyWebApp.war *

     ```

 

Deploying Your Website

 

Manual Deployment

- For static sites: Simply copy your directory to $CATALINA_HOME/webapps

- For WAR files: Copy the WAR to $CATALINA_HOME/webapps. Tomcat will automatically unpack it.

 

5.2 Using Tomcat Manager

1. Access Tomcat Manager: http://localhost:8080/manager

2. Log in with credentials set in tomcat-users.xml

3. Scroll to "WAR file to deploy" section

4. Choose your WAR file and click "Deploy"

 

Auto-deployment Configuration

Enable in server.xml:

```xml

      unpackWARs="true" autoDeploy="true">

```

 

Starting and Managing Tomcat

 

Starting Tomcat

- Windows: Run $CATALINA_HOME\bin\startup.bat

- Linux: Execute $CATALINA_HOME/bin/startup.sh

 

Stopping Tomcat

- Windows: Run $CATALINA_HOME\bin\shutdown.bat

- Linux: Execute $CATALINA_HOME/bin/shutdown.sh

 

Monitoring

- Access Tomcat Manager for basic monitoring

- Use JConsole for JVM monitoring: `jconsole`

- Consider advanced tools like JavaMelody or Prometheus with Grafana

 

Security Enhancements

 

Implementing SSL/TLS

 

1. Generate a keystore:

   ```

   keytool -genkey -alias tomcat -keyalg RSA -keystore keystore.jks

   ```

2. Configure server.xml:

   ```xml

   

              maxThreads="150" SSLEnabled="true">

     

         

                      certificateKeystorePassword="changeit"

                      type="RSA" />

     

   

   ```

 

Securing Tomcat Manager

- Limit access to specific IP addresses in context.xml:

  ```xml

  

         allow="127\.0\.0\.1|::1|192\.168\..*" />

  ```

 

Removing Default Applications

Delete unnecessary applications from $CATALINA_HOME/webapps:

```

rm -rf $CATALINA_HOME/webapps/examples

rm -rf $CATALINA_HOME/webapps/docs

rm -rf $CATALINA_HOME/webapps/ROOT

```

 

Performance Tuning

 

JVM Tuning

Modify catalina.sh or setenv.sh:

```

JAVA_OPTS="$JAVA_OPTS -Xms512m -Xmx1024m -XX:+UseG1GC"

```

 

Connection Pool Configuration

In context.xml or server.xml:

```xml

          maxTotal="100" maxIdle="30" maxWaitMillis="10000"

          username="user" password="password" driverClassName="com.mysql.jdbc.Driver"

          url="jdbc:mysql://localhost:3306/mydb"/>

```

 

Enabling GZIP Compression

In server.xml:

```xml

           connectionTimeout="20000"

           redirectPort="8443"

           compression="on"

           compressionMinSize="2048"

           noCompressionUserAgents="gozilla, traviata"

           compressableMimeType="text/html,text/xml,text/plain,text/css,text/javascript,application/javascript"/>

```

Conclusion:

 

That’s all! From the above steps and adherence to the guidelines for the web host configuration, one is in an appropriate position to host Java based programs that shall be effective and secure. These are important tips for using Tomcat and the application: In any case, some rules should be followed: to update Tomcat and your applications from time to time, to observe its working and change the settings if it is nesessary for getting the maximum result and stability.